I'm not gonna elaborate much on the tale, as that would spoil a lot of it. But there will be a ton of new characters introduced, as well as what will probably be a new writing style from me altogether.
Enjoy! :D
The sky was an ominous shade of grey that sent many running for shelter. The air was hot and heavy with the threat of unleashing hell. The air was dead when the breeze ceased -- the breeze itself was a soft burst of heated whispers, warning those it touched to move inside or be punished for insolence. The occasional flicker of hidden lightning jumped from one dark cloud to the next, much like an acrobatic nomad that fluttered from airborne house to airborne house. Finally, a large explosion roared from the heavens and the first cold drops of rain fell from the highest of horizons.
She seemed unfazed as she looked skyward, the cold drops gently splashing on her pale but dirtied face. A pair of dark green orbs blinked as droplets fell within them. She took her fingers and brushed some dampened strands of blood red hue from her face. Her fragile-looking hands were scratched and scarred multiple times over, and her tattered clothing hid even more. She was a young woman short and petite of stature, but reaching forever upward with heart and spirit. In her hand was a sword, its blade coated in a strange substance of a color that was inbetween rusted red and grass green. Her chest heaved heavily, and it was obvious she was attempting to relax.
"Luca? Are you okay?" A male's voice suddenly broke through the soft rumbling of the thunder. She jumped slightly and turned around, a relieved smile coming across her features.
He slowed his sprint to a walk as he drew near. His face visibly relaxed a little bit, revealing a smile buried within the depths of his blue eyes. He stopped when he was standing directly in front of her, running a hand through his blonde hair. He was much taller than she, having to look down slightly in order to maintain eye contact. He, too, was riddled with various scratches and bruises, but he didn't seem to notice them. He dropped the sword that was in his hand -- it, too, was coated in the strangely colored substance -- and wrapped his arms around her. His body released a quick shudder as he pressed her close. After all, he'd convinced himself he would be absolutely nothing without her at his side. And he believed it.
Luca looked up to meet his eyes and nodded. "I'm perfectly fine, Phil. Are you?"
"I am now," he replied softly, relaxing his grip enough to let her move. "That was the worst fray yet."
She nodded again. "Indeed. It seems like they were a lot stronger and focused this time. I wonder if that means Luci is--"
He gently put a finger over her lips, smiling softly. "Can we discuss this later? We both nearly got killed, and I'd rather talk about something else."
She blinked, then stepped back, looking up. "One hell of a storm we're having."
"Mmhmm," he replied distantly as his eyes also looked up.
"I like it."
"Me, too."
Phil gently wrapped his arms around Luca again, bringing her close. She smiled and uttered not another word as the two looked up at the thunderstorm raging overhead. The rain increased in intensity, and it wasn't long before the pair were soaked completely through. The strange fluid had been washed from their swords, but neither of them bothered to pick them up. They had been extremely stressed lately, up at all hours of the day and night fighting hordes of undead creatures that poured out from the earth. They rarely had any time for their relationship any more, and both secretly fretted that they would be torn apart from one another.
"We can't keep doing this," Luca finally murmured quietly.
"Doing what?" Phil asked, his head curiously tilted to one side.
"Fighting these monsters all the time," she answered. "We're literally fighting ourselves to death. We're going to wind up becoming them if we don't stop."
"Where's this coming from?" He sounded genuinely confused.
"We're not living our lives any more! We're so busy having to fight these creatures that we have no lives of our own!"
He gently put pressure on her shoulders, causing her to cease her abrupt ranting and look up at him. "We're not going to fight ourselves to death, Luca. We're going to be fine."
"Can we eventually travel and live somewhat normal lives?" She blushed softly as she felt the stinging of tears in the back of her eyes.
He smiled sympathetically and held her close. "Eventually."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
In what seemed like a fit of jealousy, the storm erupted with a violent burst of rage, throwing down a bolt of lightning. The lightning blasted into the trunk of a tree nearby, causing a loud, popping snap that jolted both back into reality.
"That sounded awfully close," Luca said, her voice shivering as she recovered from the surprise.
Phil glanced up again, noticing the clouds overhead having turned nearly black. "I think maybe we should find--"
Before the sentence could be finished, another blast of lightning struck directly overhead. There was a flash of bluish white light, and then an eerie silence.
"You're on my last nerve, Daniel! My last nerve!" A teenager's voice exclaimed in frustration.
A drowsy looking teenaged boy wandered into the kitchen, rubbing sleepily at his light green eyes. His dirty-blonde hair was unkempt and probably could've standed to be cut, and he was in a white shirt and light green plaid pajama bottoms. "What are you moaning about now?" Daniel asked as he yawned.
The annoyed teenager turned around and glared through a pair of extremely dark brown eyes. "This," he declared, holding up an empty snack package.
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "What, you're going to blame me for you standing there holding a cardboard box?"
"No, I'm blaming you for it being empty!"
"Get over it, Jim," the sleepy boy groaned. "So it's empty. That's not a crime."
Jim ran his hand through his pale red hair, trying to keep his calm. "It is when you eat the last Shroom Cookie and then put the empty box back in the pantry!"
"Are you done yet? I just wanted some milk." His eyes widened as his brother suddenly began charging at him. He pivoted on his socked heels and quickly sprinted into the living room. He barely avoided his youngest brother, who was sitting in the walkway.
"Gah, Aiden! Move!" Daniel yelped as he threw open the front door and burst through it.
Aiden looked up and blinked, having had his nose in a book. He watched as Jim rushed past, and got up. "I'm gonna tell Mama you two are fighting again!" He warned.
"You're such a tattletale," another boy, a little older than Aiden, snorted in response. His blue eyes flickered mischievously beneath long locks of white blonde hair. "How am I ever going to teach you to play practical jokes on people if you run to Mom every time Jim and Daniel have a spat?"
Aiden pouted. "I'm sorry, Aaron! I just don't like it." He got up. "I'm going to go find Autumn."
Aaron rolled his eyes. "Right, go to a girl for advice..." He huffed angrily, then smirked. "I'm gonna go watch Jim beat up Daniel again. It oughta be a fun show."
"Get off me!" Daniel squealed as he squirmed beneath his brother. It was a futile effort -- Daniel was extremely small and weak, whereas his brother was much stronger.
"You're a pain in the side, you know that?" Jim growled, pressing his knees hard into his brother's shoulders. "It's sort of like this..." He punched Daniel's left shoulder.
"Stop it! That hurts!" He yelped, squirming harder.
"Or maybe it was like this..." He landed a shot on Daniel's right shoulder.
"I'm warning you! Stop it!" Daniel growled.
"Right, because I'm so afraid of you." He blinked as suddenly Daniel's eyes turned a silvery white. He found himself suddenly thrown several feet into a nearby tree.
"I told you to stop it!" The smaller boy growled. His eyes had turned silvery and his hair and clothes were now all white.
Jim got up and snarled, "You cheater! You're using your powers! Well, two can play that game..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pale green stone shaped like a flame. It vanished into his right hand, and his hair and clothing turned the same color as the stone. His eyes were white with red pupils.
Aaron gasped from his spot in a nearby bush. "Uh oh, this is getting pretty heated..."
An orb of white light began to form in Daniel's left palm. The trees around him began to bend a little. Jim gasped softly and then narrowed his eyes. He pointed up at the sun and tightened his fist, causing the sky to turn as dark as night.
Aaron whimpered softly from his hiding place. "They're going to destroy each other at this rate... I gotta get Jared! He can stop them..." He got up and began to run back towards the house when suddenly a massive shockwave ripped through the sky and the ground. He yelped in terror as he fell to the ground, tensing up and waiting for the earthquake to end.
Jim and Daniel were suddenly engulfed in an extremely bright, explosive blast of multicolored light. They did not emerge from it when the tremors settled. In fear, Aaron didn't bother to investigate. The frightened twelve-year-old instead scrambled to his feet and ran towards his house, screaming for help.
No comments:
Post a Comment